OM 5.10.6 Texbook Provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act

Policy Statement

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) contains numerous provisions with which US institutions of higher education must comply in order to be eligible for Title IV funding (student financial aid). This act has a number of provisions with which Clarkson University must complain. You can reach more fully about HEOA at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html. 

SEC. 133. TEXTBOOK INFORMATION (of the Higher Education Opportunity Act)

(a) PURPOSE AND INTENT—The purpose of this section is to ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials. It is the intent of this section to encourage all of the involved parties, including faculty, students, administrators, institutions of higher education, bookstores, distributors, and publishers, to work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials for students while supporting the academic freedom of faculty members to select high quality course materials for students.

The portion of Section 133 that most affects college faculty is the following:

(d) PROVISION OF ISBN COLLEGE TEXTBOOK INFORMATION IN COURSE SCHEDULES- To the maximum extent practicable, each institution of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance shall—
     (1) disclose, on the institution’s Internet course schedule and in a manner of the institution’s choosing, the International Standard Book Number and retail price information of required and recommended college textbooks and supplemental materials for each course listed in the institution’s course schedule used for pre-registration and registration purposes, except that—
          (A) if the International Standard Book Number is not available for such college textbook or supplemental material, then the institution shall include in the Internet course schedule the author, title, publisher, and copyright date for such college textbook or supplemental material; and
          (B) if the institution determines that the disclosure of the information described in this subsection is not practicable for a college textbook or supplemental material, then the institution shall so indicate by placing the designation ‘To Be Determined’ in lieu of the information required under this subsection; and
     (2) if applicable, include on the institution’s written course schedule a notice that textbook information is available on the institution’s Internet course schedule, and the Internet address for such schedule.

Textbook information must be available to students no later than these dates in the academic year:

The Clarkson University Bookstore requires textbook information from faculty or course instructors to be submitted via Adoptions & Insights Portal (AIP). Instruction to access AIP can be found at the following link: https://confluence.clarkson.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=114754642.

Even if courses will not require a textbook, faculty are asked to indicate it on the AIP portal.  Faculty using Open Educational Resources (OER) may indicate it during their submissions and the University Bookstore will indicate that the resource may be available for free.

The University Bookstore is the exclusive retail buyer and seller of all required, recommended, and/or suggested course materials and supplies, including books delivered in all formats (digital, rental, new, or used), course packs, interactive or other courseware, computer software containing learning content, textbook rentals, open educational resources (OER) available for purchase, and materials published or distributed electronically, through the LMS, sold over the Internet, or hosted through e-commerce links.

Students reserve the right to purchase course materials from a provider of their choice.

The syllabus should contain the course material information but must refrain from directly recommending a purchasing source.

The Bookstore guarantees that any textbook submissions made by 5:00 p.m. on the Monday prior to the opening of enrollment will be available to students to view/order on the day of enrollment. Regardless, the bookstore will continue to accept textbook information until classes open in any semester.

Students may purchase textbooks in-store or online at the following address: clarkson.bncollege.com

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